Surcingle



(NoModel.) I'. A. LE COUNT.

'SURGINGfLEl No. 523,534. Patented July 24, 1894.

UNITED l STATESl `PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK A. LE CCIINT, oF NIANTIC, CONNECTICUT.-

'suRClNGLI-z.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 523,534, dated July 24, 1894.

Application filed February 19,1894. Serial No. 500,736. (No model.)-

To all whom t may concern.-

Re It known that I, FRANK A. IIE-COUNT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Niantic, New London County, State of Connecticut, haveinvented certain new and useful InI-A .provelnents in Su`rcingles, which improvements are fully set forth and described in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying sheet of drawings.

This invention has for its object to provide for use with ordinary surcingles an attachment, of the nature of a pad, which will t the Withers of a horse and prevent the accidental slipping of the surcingle as well as the slipping of a blanket held by said surcingle. Said pad is made of spring sheet metal, that will readily adapt itself to it horses of various shapes and is, preferably, faced with rubber, or similar material, as hereinafter explained in detail.

The annexed drawings illustrate my improved sureinglein its simplest form, Figure 1 showing the same complete and Fig. 2 being an enlarged, detached edge view of one of the pads whichI have provided. Fig. 3. is a plan view of said pad. In the drawings the letter a denotes the suroingle strap, made of webbing or similar i l material, having at one end abuckle b andat the opposite end a perforated strap o adapted to coact with said buckle in the usual manner. Upon each side of the central portion of strap a is a pad d formed of curved spring metal of a size and shape that will fit the Withers-of a horse. Each of said pads is bent, at one end, into bow shape, as at d', the curve of the sheet metal being substantially the same as the depression, or hollow, upon each side of the backbone of the horse and.

said bow is securely riveted, or otherwise fastened to the strap c, thus retaining the bow portion of the pad in about the same shape at all times. When the surcingle is drawn ends of such slitted portions are secured by rivets to strap c.

It will be notedthat the slitted portions d2 lie parallel with, and upon, the said strap and whenever .the latter is drawn tightly around the horse and seeks to follow the conytour of the'horses body, the slitted portions of the pad may also bend correspondingly but the curved or bow portions of the pad preserve at alltimes .the same, or substantially the sameshape.

To further increase the holding power of the surcingle, Ipreferably Cover the inner or convex face of each spring pad d with soft rubber e which rubber is held, as here shown, by the several rivets as best seen in Fig. 2.

I find in practice that adjustable spring pads, of my improved form, serve unfailingly to prevent slipping of either the surcingle proper or of a blanket held thereby, yet said pads do not add materially to the cost of such surcingles.

Having described my invention, I Claim as new and wish to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A surcingle strap, provided with pads made of spring metal, each of said pads consisting of a substantially rigid bow shaped part and a slitted end, and being riveted to the strap at the ends of the bow shaped part and also at the ends of the slitted part, said slitted part lying substantially parallel with the strap, substantially as described.

2. The herein described surcingle, consisting of the strap, the pads, made of spring metal and each consisting of v a substantially rigid bow shaped end which projectsbeyond the plane of the surface of the strap and a slitted end which lies substantially parallel with the strap, each 'of said pads being riveted to the strap at the ends of its bow shaped 4part and also at, the ends of its slitted part,

and a facing of rubber secured to the exposed faces of said pads, substantially as shown and described.

FRANK A( LE' COUNT. 

